Discharge lamps such as these have been described per se in the prior art, and widely differing details relating to them have already been described in previous patent applications from the same applicant. The fundamental physical and technical details of such discharge lamps will not be described any further in detail here but, instead of this, reference should be made to the relevant prior art, in which these lamps are also occasionally referred to as silent discharge lamps. They are also particularly suitable for pulsed operation which results in the light being produced with particularly high efficiency.
In particular, the prior art patent U.S. Pat. No. 6,411,039 B1 disclosed meandering electrode shapes, by means of which the discharge distance between the most closely adjacent electrodes which are in the form of strips is in each case modulated in a discharge lamp such as this. By way of example, sinusoidal shapes or sawtooth shapes are described in this case.